Another national lockdown may be required if the current trend of Covid-19 figures cannot be turned around, according to a public health expert.
164 new cases of the virus were confirmed yesterday, with almost 60 per cent of those in Dublin and 13 per cent located in Kildare.
There were also a number of cases across the country with 10 in Tipperary, nine in Cork, eight in Carlow, six in Waterford, six in Offaly and the remaining 10 cases being in Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Louth and Roscommon
The National Public Health Emergency Team is meeting today to discuss the latest figures and Kildare's lockdown.
Professor Anthony Staines from DCU says restrictions could be extended to the country if the number of cases continue to rise:
"I think if we get to a place where there is clearly a major disaster going on, our hands will be forced and we will back to having a national lockdown.
"I think that would be fairly damaging and I think it is also unnecessary. If we are unable to turn this around though that is where we will go."
He said what is most important now is reducing the number of cases across the entire country.
Care homes
It comes as concerns have been raised about Covid-19 cases at a Dublin care home after a staff member allegedly hid a positive test result from management.
An elderly resident and another worker were found to have the virus after testing was carried out according to the Irish Independent, while other staff members are self-isolating.
An investigation is to be carried out into the outbreak.
Sinn Féin's Louise O'Reilly who is on the Covid-19 committee hopes it is just an isolated incident:
"If it is a case that there is an issue with regards to the environment, that a worker did not feel able to come forward then that needs to be fixed.
"If it is the case that a worker felt they did not need to come forward for some reason then that really needs to be fixed."
She said if it is the latter, the HSE needs to "up their game around messaging" and possibly have a a new information campaign around it.
